Originally appeared in The Associated Press,
4/11/01 5:57 PM By RALPH SIEGEL

TRENTON, N.J. (AP)
A new poll by Quinnipiac University concludes that
Acting Gov. Donald DiFrancesco is losing ground to his opponents in the race
for governor.

Poll spokesman Maurice Carroll said he believed DiFrancesco's image had been
tarnished by disclosures about his past real estate dealings and possibly
because of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings into racial profiling.
DiFrancesco became acting governor Jan. 31, a post that should be pushing
his name recognition and voter approval upward, "so something else has to be
going on," Carroll said.

DiFrancesco continues to lead Jersey City Mayor Bret Schundler in the
primary race, and Democratic candidate Jim McGreevey continues to lead both
Republicans. But Schundler is drawing closer to DiFrancesco while
DiFrancesco has lost more ground to McGreevey, according to the poll
released Wednesday by Quinnipiac University of Hamden, Conn.

According to Quinnipiac, DiFrancesco's lead over Jersey City Mayor Bret
Schundler has dwindled to 12 points, 39-27, in the primary contest. Polls in
March and February gave DiFrancesco leads of better than 20 points over
Schundler.

The poll also asked registered voters about a potential November matchup
with McGreevey. While both Republicans lost ground, Schundler's drop was
within the margin of error, which means he may not have actually lost
anything at all, while DiFrancesco's drop was larger than the error margin.
Quinnipiac did its polling most of last week and through the weekend,
talking to 1,145 New Jersey residents who identified themselves as
registered voters. The questions about the November matchups had a margin of
error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. Questions about the primary were
put to 357 registered Republicans. Since the sample group is smaller, the
error margin is larger, plus or minus 5 percentage points.

In the matchup polls, DiFrancesco trailed McGreevey 42-33 compared to a gap
of only four points in a March 8 poll by the same group talking to roughly
the same number of people.

Schundler trailed McGreevey by 17 points, 43-27, compared with a 14 point
gap in a March 8 poll. Schundler's fall of 3 percentage points was within
the margin of error.

"The bad news for Gov. DiFrancesco is that he's lost ground to Mayor
McGreevey in the general election face-off, and Mayor Schundler is creeping
up on him in the Republican primary matchup," Carroll said.

The Schundler campaign promptly hailed the outcome as evidence their
candidate is becoming better known at the same time DiFrancesco is becoming
damaged. "In the last month we have cut 10 points off Donnie's lead," the
campaign said in a news release. "As they learn more about our campaign,
they are signing on."

Charlie Smith, DiFrancesco's campaign manager, said the change in numbers
was insignificant because it was small. "It is very early, and after
enduring a month of Bret Schundler's negative campaign, Don DiFrancesco
still has very high favorable ratings."

As for the McGreevey poll result, Smith said any Republican would be pleased
to close behind a Democrat with statewide name recognition at this early
date in a state where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-to-1.
McGreevey ran for governor in 1997, but DiFrancesco has never appeared on a
statewide ballot.